Comments on: Unfair Advantage http://www.joelyoungblog.com/2007/07/17/unfair-advantage/ This is the personal blog of Joel Young, Lead Pastor for Horizon Christian Church in Wilder, KY. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:25:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Joel Young http://www.joelyoungblog.com/2007/07/17/unfair-advantage/comment-page-1/#comment-166 Joel Young Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:22:47 +0000 http://www.joelyoungmusic.com/2007/07/17/unfair-advantage/#comment-166 The guy definitely has knees otherwise his legs would not be able to bend. It just looks like that because the prosthesis has to overlap his leg somewhere. And I would venture to guess that because of that he endures more pain than most runners every will. You can go somewhere on youtube.com and see a video of him running and there is absolutely no spring in those legs of his that there isn't in our ankles. It has to give a little, but the first time I watched the video I couldn't tell which one was him running. The prosthesis seem to work very much like real legs. I think the real issue the IAAF has is that his graphite (or whatever they are) leg bars cut through the air with less resistance than our fleshy legs. The guy definitely has knees otherwise his legs would not be able to bend. It just looks like that because the prosthesis has to overlap his leg somewhere. And I would venture to guess that because of that he endures more pain than most runners every will.

You can go somewhere on youtube.com and see a video of him running and there is absolutely no spring in those legs of his that there isn’t in our ankles. It has to give a little, but the first time I watched the video I couldn’t tell which one was him running. The prosthesis seem to work very much like real legs. I think the real issue the IAAF has is that his graphite (or whatever they are) leg bars cut through the air with less resistance than our fleshy legs.

]]> By: Clarence http://www.joelyoungblog.com/2007/07/17/unfair-advantage/comment-page-1/#comment-164 Clarence Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:04:14 +0000 http://www.joelyoungmusic.com/2007/07/17/unfair-advantage/#comment-164 Well... I wish it were all this clear cut. But think about it.. this guy's legs appear to not only be aerodynamic, but they also appear to have a bit of a spring to them, so his strides are bigger (this is the first I've seen his picture). Then he has no knee joints, you know what keeps me from running? My knees. They hurt. The other part that keeps people from running are their shins. Finally the other reason I don't run... flat feet. So while on the surface it sounds absurd, I'm sure if I was a competitor I'd be very upset to lose to this guy who doesn't have to deal with the common elements of the sport. Not minimizing his unbelievable perseverance, but the facts are the facts. I'm sure nothing is stopping this guy from running in non sanctioned races (marathons and such), but when you train for years to run in the race to see that a guy has what he has turned into an advantage, would stink. The story does pull at the emotional heart strings, but I can certainly see why they decided what they decided. Well… I wish it were all this clear cut. But think about it.. this guy’s legs appear to not only be aerodynamic, but they also appear to have a bit of a spring to them, so his strides are bigger (this is the first I’ve seen his picture). Then he has no knee joints, you know what keeps me from running? My knees. They hurt. The other part that keeps people from running are their shins. Finally the other reason I don’t run… flat feet.

So while on the surface it sounds absurd, I’m sure if I was a competitor I’d be very upset to lose to this guy who doesn’t have to deal with the common elements of the sport.

Not minimizing his unbelievable perseverance, but the facts are the facts. I’m sure nothing is stopping this guy from running in non sanctioned races (marathons and such), but when you train for years to run in the race to see that a guy has what he has turned into an advantage, would stink.

The story does pull at the emotional heart strings, but I can certainly see why they decided what they decided.

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